Merry Go Rounds

Happy Humpday!!  Whew....do you ever feel like you're on a merry go round and things just don't stop but you want to get off?????  Well that is exactly how I feel right now lol.  It has been crazy at work and the stress levels are off the charts due to a lot of changes going on.  How long will this continue????  It may end sooner than later due to these changes but we'll see so in the meantime I decided I wanted to get off and slow down some.  So what did I decide to do???  Well I'll give you a quick hint lol.

Yup.....I decided to surprise my hubby for our 12th anniversary in September and we're flying off to Indio California!!!  This is one of our timeshares and we'll be spending 4 nights here in warmth and sunshine and couldn't be more excited!!  After all that has been happening this past year I decided no more putting off traveling so this is the start to rejuvinating again :)

So other than being busy at work, I have been doing a few small projects when I get home to unwind a little.  This was something very special to me that I found when I was down at Mom and Dad's house a few weeks ago getting the house back in order for Mom.  I found my Dad's and Grandpa's Army papers!!  So I wanted to bring them home and frame them and will also put Dad's Veteran's flag with them.  These are very special and I cherish them.  I know it may not be very exciting for you but during Dad's last 6 month's of life, we had many many chats about his army days and what all he did.  With seeing the actual certified military papers with his signatures, his memories of our chats mean even more :)

I will be framing them and finding a special place in the house for all of these.  Oh man I miss him so much.  On August 4th, he would have turned 84 so my goal is to have this done by then in honor of him.  I can't believe it has been 8 months already since he passed.  I don't think that void will ever be filled in my heart.

I found a temporary fix for my cleaning supplies in our master bathroom.  This at least makes them blend in more with some of my new items lol.  I had this crate and it was actually red and sitting outside on my porch so I decided to give it a few coats of paint, let the red bleed through some to give it the older look at it turned out pretty good :)

What's next on my agenda???  Another redo lol.  Stay tuned!!

Have a wonderful evening and rest of the week!!  Happy Crafting :)

xo ~ Laura

What a beautiful day for a wedding

Today was a beautiful sunny day here in the PNW and what a day for a wedding!!  One of the girls that Carissa was best friends with since 7th grade got married today in Seattle at the Paramount Theater.  I have lived in Washington for 47 years and not once had I be in there.  I have driven by numerous times when I was downtown but not to any event there.  Let me take you for a little tour inside this beautiful historical theater.

This is where they had the ceremony and she made her grand entrance coming down these stairs.

 The ceiling is all wood carved.  Beautiful!!

Just one of the most beautiful chandeliers!!

 Look at all this detail.  Simply breath taking and even more gorgeous in person.

 Another shot of one of the balconies.

 Beautiful huh :)

 On the floor seating area in the theater, these cut outs are what you see in the ceilings.

Their cake

 Another shot of the decor where the ceremony took place.

The newly married Mr. & Mrs. Jason Eggers

 Larry took a picture of me and Carissa before the ceremony started.  Nice to be able to not have the hustle bustle this go around :)

 Carissa and Megan, another good friend from high school.

Well I hope you enjoyed my little tour of this beautiful wedding at one of the historical venues here in Seattle Washington.  Have a wonderful week!!

Happy Crafting!!

xo ~ Laura

Missing Child

Hi there.  We have a friend whose 14 year old boy has runaway and there are posters being circulated to help get the word out on Kai.  I've known Kai since he was born so this really hits close to home for me.  His parents are having such a hard time right now and worried sick.  I know I have friends out there in blogland all over the states and the police think he is in the Seattle area but you never know so please, keep your eyes posted for Kai.

Kai Morrisey

Please keep Kai in your prayers for his safe return and also Kelly and Sue (his parents) through all this.

Thank you so much!!

xo ~ Laura

New Wedding Frame

So I finished my last frame for one of the weddings we're going to within 1 weeks time.  Now all I have to do is wrap them, make two cards and I'll be done :)

I had found this frame and I thought it was really pretty as it looks rustic and it was on sale so it was a big bonus.  Here is a shot before.  I kind of chuckled because I couldn't get the right angle on it so you see my shadow in it hahahahaha.

One of the things they had on their wedding registry was a frame with this on it so thought it would be more meaningful if I did it myself.  I hope they like it.  I took the frame, took some chocolate color burlap and put it behind the glass.  The with my wonderful and trusty Cricut, cut out the words and put it directly on the glass.  I figured this way if she wants she can change out the background as she see fit.

Nothing else for me tonight as I have been having kidney issues these past few days and tonight it took me down so no crafting tonight.  Hoping to be better by tomorrow or it will be a pretty uncomfortable day since I sit at a computer all day long.

Have a wonderful evening and happy crafting!!

xo ~ Laura

Mini Bathroom Redo

Happy Monday!!

Man I wish this weather around Washington would make up its mind.  Warm one day and 20 degrees cooler and rain the next.  I'm just wanting a little warmth and consistency OK Mother Nature???  I know some of you out there are really fighting the extreme heat and if I could send you some of our cooler weather and swap it out for here I would.  I really would :)

My lily bush is blooming now and I love seeing what color it is going to be.  I bought the bulbs quiet a few years ago and the lady told me they change color every year.  I had never grown them before but I took her at her word lol.  Well you know what???  They do!!  Don't ask me the name of them because I can't remember lol but I love them and they are so pretty :)  This year they are a very light orange with yellow.  The pictures don't do it justice.

I have been wanting to change things up some in our bathroom and make it more rustic and country so here is a before shot.  Kind of boring I know.

Then here it is after adding a few new things I found.  Much better now don't you think??  I want to find something to hide the cleaning items and toilet bowl brushes.  Any ideas??? 

Here is a closer shot of my little decorations so you can see it better.  This first basket has a leather strap on it with some rivets.  Love it!

Here are my matching boxes that go with it.  My little Star candle holder actually has some cinnamon/vanilla beads in it and they smell so good!!!

Then on my one wall I had a picture I had done up when I first got my Cricuit.  It did the trick to fill the wall but now that I know more what I'm doing I changed it all out. 

I had found some chocolate color burlap awhile ago so to keep with the country/rustic theme, I put my vinyl directly on the burlap.  Not my favorite thing to do as it is a lot harder to get it transferred but it does work, especially if you have patience.  A few leftover rose buds from Carissa's wedding and one of my metal rustic stars and much better!!  I think one of these days I will try to make a new frame for it out of old weathered wood.  That would be perfect them :)  How about that, I gave myself another project on my To Do list. 

Well that is it for me tonight.  I need to get some dinner cooking before the hubs gets home from work.  That is one nice thing with our shifts, I have about 4 hours of "me" time when I get home from work before he gets here so on the days I'm not too tired I get to play.  Yay!!!

Have a fabulous evening and happy crafting!!

xo ~ Laura

Continual Prayers for Baby Gavin

Hi,

I realized I had asked for prayers for a friends grandson a few weeks ago and never posted an update.  He is still hanging in there but still in ICNU.  His first surgery was a frightening one as it was a 3 part surgery and the first 2 procedures went smooth but when they had to put the stent into the valve he went into cardiac arrest and they worked on him for 30 minutes but was able to bring him back.  He had to have surgery again yesterday as his open heart surgery incision was infected so they had to open him back up again and clean him out and put the drain tubes back in him.  He has improved since then some and they are slowly feeding him through a tube a little more at a time and he seems to be tolerating it.

This is beautiful baby Gavin.  He was born a little over 3 weeks ago and has already had 3 surgeries already so please pray for him.  They are talking now about the option of a heart transplant if he doesn't tolerate being off all the machines.

His parents, Shannon and Shaun have been with him the entire time staying in the special family rooms, trading off getting some sleep while the other is in with Gavin.  They are exhausted but hanging in there.  I know this is very hard on all the family as they also have a 3 yr old daughter Macie who is staying with Shaun's parents.

Please keep Gavin in your daily prayers that he gets better and that he doesn't maybe have to get the heart transplant.  He is such a strong little boy and such a blessing.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!!

xo ~ Laura

New sign!!

Wow I can't believe it is hump day already!!  Whew.....this week is going by really fast, and that is OK when it is regarding work lol.  As for projects I need to get done, well please time slow down a little more in the evenings so I can get them done lol!!

Yesterday I posted 2 customized photo albums I made up for some weddings this month and wanted to get a sign together that one of the girls had wanted me to make her to purchase.  I figured she really wants them so why not make one up and give that to them with the album and tada!!  Wedding gift completed :)

Here is one I finished up already.  This was just a frame I had that was unfinished so decided to just take my stamping ink pad and blotter and detail it out a little more.  I really like how it turned out.  The background can be changed anytime she wants to any color as the vinyl is on the glass itself.  Now that is versatile huh :) Sorry I couldn't get a better shot but no matter which way I tried you could see reflections in the glass or the letter looked a little cricked which it isn't but oh well, you get the idea right?  :)

Also wanted to share another wedding picture of Carissa that I just love.  We had two photographers and we have been waiting for these and she got them back last night so nope, you haven't seen this one.  I just love the black and white of her.  I have something in mind for this one ;)

Oh OK......I'll leave you with another one to show you the fun we were having getting her ready lol

I hope that you are having a wonderful evening and staying cool with some of this hot weather out there.  Have a wonderful rest of the week!!

xo  Laura

Wedding Gifts

Good Evening!!

Well almost half way done with the work week and decided I better get a move on it as I have 2 weddings to go to in one week so crank up that Cricut!!!

The first one is one of Carissa's good friends from Jr. High and High School so she's like a daughter to me.  She is getting married on the 24th so wanted to do something personalized for her. I printed out one of their engagement pictures on vellum paper and put a white background in back of it and it really stands out as it is a black and white picture.  Love it!! I'm working on one more sign but it's not done so you'll have to be patient to see that one lol.

The next one on the 30th is a young man that grew up with my son and they were the best buds through school and sports.  Had a harder time with a picture of Ryan and Cheryl but thought this was cute so they can always change it out if they want.   Man....it is so hard to believe that all these kids are grown up and starting their new journey in life!!

My son sent me a picture of my granddaughter tonight and she had a big day!!  She got her hair cut and also lost her first tooth!!  Her Mommy is a hair dresser so she does very well with sitting there.  She is a little princess so she loves to look pretty.  You can kind of see her missing tooth so the tooth fairy will be making a stop tonight :)

Well that's it for me and I hope to be back later this week with the rest of my gift to them so stay tuned.

Have a wonderful rest of the week!!

Hugs,

Laura

A few redo's and a new sign

Happy Thursday!!

I hope that your week is going well so far and that you are enjoying some beautiful sunshine.  I think our Summer has finally arrived here in the PNW!!  To bad I have to work during all of this but what can you do.  Need to pay those bills right? 

So I updated some of my outdoor decor on our shed and kept it within the color scheme I had put up for the 4th of July.  Changed out the flower and ribbon and added my little hand rake, added a hook to hang my little red lantern.  Perfect :)

I also put something on the other side of the shed....my quick and easy red/white/blue picket wall hanging. My other little window frame holder came apart about a month ago so it is on my "To Do" list to fix it and hang it back up so this will do for now.  Besides....it fits with my star iron piece lol.   Aw....much better.

As for what was new, another new sign added with some vinyl on it from my new cartridge.  Hmmmmm starting to see a pattern in my back yard???  lol  I think maybe we should think about buying some property out in the country and then maybe some of my signs would fit more properly lol. 

The entire view of it from our back porch now looks like this :)

Hope you're having a fun time crafting as I love checking out all the new ideas out on your blogs.  Have a great day and happy crafting!!

xo ~ Laura

Outside Window

Well back to reality today and have to deal with the rest of the work week as I didn't win lotto lol.  It is supposed to be a gorgeous week with sunny skies and I'll be loving that.  That is the only perk of having to work so early is I get home with plenty of sunshine to enjoy still :) 

OK so I had given a tease before about doing something outside on the shed with one of my old windows that I received for free many months ago.  I knew which one I wanted to use as the frame had come lose and I knew I needed to take the glass out as I didn't want to take the chance of it breaking if it got really windy so that is the perfect one.

So I pulled up the broken piece, gently started to pull the glass out and only to find out it wasn't glass after all!!  It was like a clear plexiglass!!  That shocked me lol but I still took it out as I had something in mind.  I didn't do anything else to the window frame as it was already chipped with paint and only partially painted and I thought perfect!!  I pulled out 2 of my red metal stars, 2 of my wood moose cut outs and a think wood plank and fired up my Cricut!!  The kids had gotten me a new cartridge for Mother's Day and I've been itching to use it as it is the outdoor wildlife one.  Personally I think they had a motive when they got it as it has hunting/fishing animals in it and I think they were hinting to me to make them something for their house lol!!!  So without further ado..........................................

Like it???  I do :-)  Larry thought it was cute and gave that corner of the yard some character.  We both laughed because our "moose" is our oldest dog....he's 9 yrs old and pretty plump and we occasionally call him our little moose lol.

Hope you are having a wonderful day and happy crafting!!

xo ~ Laura

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope that all of you are enjoying this 4th of July and having great fun with family and friends :)  It is beautiful here in the PNW today and I've enjoyed every moment so far.  Larry had to work today filling in for a company he used to work for (he's still on the payroll for when people want a day off on the weekend or holiday's) so I had the day all to myself with the boys :)  What did I do today?  LOTS of things lol!!!

I was able to do some more decorating outside, and kept with the colors for the 4th and will leave that up for the rest of the Summer because it is bright and cheery lol.  One of the things I did was this!!  (Excuse the garbage cans in the background as we don't have any covered places for them lol)

The snail is a gift from my MIL for my 50th birthday so it watches over our front porch lol

Since we're proud to be an American, think I will fly my little flag for awhile.  This year it seems even more special to me as it makes me think of my Dad even more and all he did to serve this country.

Stay tuned for some other projects I did today that I love how they turned out.  I'll give you a hint on one....I had mentioned quiet a few posts ago about an old window frame ;-)

Happy 4th of July and be safe!!!

xo ~ Laura

Need to slow down!!

This weekend has been an extremely busy one for me.  Saturday I had a birthday present to drop off to my oldest granddaughter, had to drop off a friends daughter little sweater she left at the wedding and then off to my youngest daughter's as we (my ex, Larry and I) got Brandon and Carissa a new washer/dryer for their wedding gift.  The one they had took forever to wash and dry the clothes.  So while I was waiting, nice Mom that I am, I decided to clean up their house so when they came home today they would have a clean house.  Carissa called me and was so excited about her washer/dryer and the house being cleaned so now they can relax tomorrow and she can play with their new "toys".

Then this morning I was up early to drive down to my Mom's house as we have been cleaning it out from top to bottom, painting and washing everything down.  Major cleaning let me tell you.  It takes me 1 1/2 hours to get down there so it was a very long day but got some good things accomplished.  I have to say though the drive was beautiful :)

She is going to love it :)  While wiping down all the furniture and going through all the knick knacks, I found some really "OLD" stuff which was a lot of fun!!  Here are a few fun things I found :)

Lots of old collectable glass, a candy dish that was my grandmother's from the late 1920's to early 1930's and in very good condition, the jar to the far left has sand in it from when Mom and Dad took a trip to Hawaii for their 25th wedding anniversary.

Look at the silver mirror and comb set!!  It look like it i for babies or something as it is only about 3" long ~ so cute!!

We had to move everything out of the house so we could rip up the carpet to make sure no dust and dirt is in the house due to Mom's lungs.  This old copper tub sits in the livingroom next to the wood stove with firewood.  I love it cause it has such character :)

Some original liniment is still in this jar.

So there are just a few things I found on my journey today.  Hope you enjoyed some of my finds :)  Have a wonderful evening!!

xo ~ Laura